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So what are the elements that make a mystery novel 'cosy'? I usually describe my mystery novels in this way but I am never quite sure they fit into the sub-genre, except that not much blood or violence is visible and the characters occasionally abandon crime in favour of scrapbooking or knitting. In the latest …

During this year's NaNoWriMo I made the startling (to me) discovery that it was a big help to have decided the theme of the novel in advance. I don't think this is quite the first time I've done this, but in this case the theme permeated the whole story to such an extent that instead …

Because I'm writing about a fictitious town, Pitkirtly, I have had to invent its geography and town plan from nothing - or almost nothing. It has similarities to Culross, which I know slightly, but I don't want it to be the same as Culross. So for instance I don't want it to have a railway line …

Sometimes the theme of a novel is not immediately obvious - or is even completely different from the one the writer has in mind. As part of an effort to be a real writer I have been giving some thought to my themes. These are not great big unmanageable themes of life, death, good and …

As a coastal town, Pitkirtly bears the brunt of quite a lot of weather, although perhaps not as much as if it was on the North Sea itself. Instead it's quite a way inside the Firth of Forth, past the Forth Bridges and with a harbour that's partly sheltered. The weather plays a large part …

The central characters in my mystery novels are Christopher, a redundant archivist and Amaryllis, a semi-retired spy. They are both in their forties and, while Christopher has to work in various part-time jobs for a living, Amaryllis is still drawn back into her former life from time to time, as if reluctant to let go …

My mystery novels are set in the imaginary small town of Pitkirtly on the south coast of Fife. You can see Longannet power station and Grangemouth oil refinery from the harbour, so in that sense it is quite like the picturesque village of Culross, but in many ways it is not at all similar to any real …